Dharma Wheel

Kagyu practices in daily life

Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 4:01 pm

by Kelwin

Hi all,

As a follower of the Karma Kagyu path, I've seen different people do different practices. Obviously we all do or did the ngondro. And then some more. Then many continue with the Guru Yogas of Mikyo Dorje ,Karma Pakshi, or Milarepa. Others do Green Tara, Chenrezig, or Vajrayogini.

Other practices, like Chakrasamvara, Gyalwa Gyamtso, Mahakalu, Gampopa's Guru Yoga, the 6 yogas, etc, seem to be mostly done in retreat only (although I know exceptions to the rule).

So I was wondering, what other practices do you know are being done by those outside of retreat, living a householder's life?

All the best,
Kelwin

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 4:56 pm

by conebeckham

In daily life, lojong practices, and Mahamudra, are the core of the path.
You've covered most of the the "formal session" and yidam practices, and for folks who maintain a daily sadhana, I'd guess Karma Pakshi is popular. There's also Konchok Chidu, and others.......

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 5:51 pm

by Silent Bob

I do Kongtrul's White Tara sadhana, "The Wish-Fulfilling Wheel" as a daily practice, as suggested by a number of the senior Takpo Kagyu teachers including Tenga Rinpoche, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche and my root lama, Thrangu Rinpoche. It feels like a very appropriate practice for our times, given the ongoing tsunami of fear, strife and environmental disharmony that we're all trying to learn to cope with.

Chris

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 6:01 pm

by Kelwin

conebeckham wrote:In daily life, lojong practices, and Mahamudra, are the core of the path.
You've covered most of the the "formal session" and yidam practices, and for folks who maintain a daily sadhana, I'd guess Karma Pakshi is popular. There's also Konchok Chidu, and others.......

Thanks Cone. Indeed, I was referring to daily sadhanas. I've heard it said that the 16th Karmapa advised almost every center to do the 8th Karmapa Guru Yoga. Not sure about that. Not sure if that was meant as a preparation towards the Vajrayogini sadhana either.

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 3:00 am

by conebeckham

How could I forget white Tara? Very important Karma Kagyu yidam.....
8th Karmapa practice is very good (Thun Shi Lamai Naljor),not merely as a preparation for Phagmo, but also as a daily recitation. Maybe even "essential."

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:11 pm

by Chaz

Kelwin wrote:Hi all,

As a follower of the Karma Kagyu path, I've seen different people do different practices. Obviously we all do or did the ngondro. And then some more. Then many continue with the Guru Yogas of Mikyo Dorje ,Karma Pakshi, or Milarepa. Others do Green Tara, Chenrezig, or Vajrayogini.

Other practices, like Chakrasamvara, Gyalwa Gyamtso, Mahakalu, Gampopa's Guru Yoga, the 6 yogas, etc, seem to be mostly done in retreat only (although I know exceptions to the rule).

So I was wondering, what other practices do you know are being done by those outside of retreat, living a householder's life?

All the best,
Kelwin

I do a short, daily Vajrasattva practice recommeded by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:56 pm

by conebeckham

Sangtik DorSem?

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:08 pm

by Karma K Sonam

Chenrezig and Dorje Sempa

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:15 pm

by Chaz

conebeckham wrote:Sangtik DorSem?

I don't know the answer to that. The practice I do is found in the Nalandabodhi practice liturgy. The original text was composed by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye - "The Mediatation and Recitation of Glorious Vajrasattva".

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:07 am

by Tarpa

I'm more of the one diety is all dieties kinda guy, and all dieties are guru yoga. My practice routine is guru yoga first and main practice, if I only do one session a day it will be guru yoga, after that my main annutaratantra sadhana practice for the second session, and dharmapala practices as last practice of the day so if I can get in 3 sessions a day I consider that a good day. Other than that I have my auxillary practices, other sadhanas, prayers, offerings, etc. Green Tara and Guru Rinpoche on certain days of the month, medicine Buddha on medicine Buddha day, sur usually twice a week. I'm very happy with my practices and will probably stick with my main sadhana for my whole life, haven't received any more empowerments in years but there a couple coming up I will try to receive. Would like to get into dzogchen eventually. The first few years I was pretty eclectic, this practice that practice, but after I settled into a definite routine and arranged my main practices and whittled down the stack to something very manageable and stuck with it then everything just came together, it made a huge difference in the quality of my practice I think, and everything was comprehensible and manageable, it was like the jigsaw puzzle scattered all over the floor was finally put together and hanging on the wall. There are soooooo many practices, I'm very obsessive about getting a complete picture regarding anything, if I'm into an author I have to have all his books, if I'm into a band I have to have all their records, I would spend hours in a record store because I would have to look through everything to make sure there was nothing I was missing. So vajrayana drove me crazy the first few years because I didn't want to miss out on anything but there's just so much to chew on.
Then I put into practice what I knew intellectually, that the essence of the whole shebang was the same, up to dzogchen at least, after that everything fell into place and I settled down. I'm very very happy to have what I consider a well rounded 3 roots practice now and find it very manageable, even while coming home from the 9-5 world, as long as I don't veg out after work or get too distracted, wich happens, but I live a very simple life and want to keep it that way. I think finding one main diety practice really helps a lot if it's one you really feel connected to and gives you tangible results, something you can really feel, bringing it all down from the head to the heart and then sticking with it, keep it simple.

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 5:02 pm

by Silent Bob

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 8:01 pm

by heart

Silent Bob wrote:

Agreed.

/magnus

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 8:51 pm

by conebeckham

Thirded...motion carried!

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 12:27 am

by Jinzang

The short Vajrakilaya sadhana

Re: Kagyu practices in daily life

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 5:21 am

by J-Bird

Here are the main practices of the 3 year retreats currently being held at Palpung Sherabling in India.
Its posted on at the following location. This website is terrific